Brand activation and experiential marketing strategies for 2018

Brand Activations are a crucial strategy for reaching vast audiences in a relatively short amount of time, usually to a targeted demographic. The brand activations sole purpose is to connect with new consumers. There is no one way or direct path to which a company has to take in order to launch a successful campaign after all the premise behind the brand activation is that your trying get peoples attention by presenting them with a radically new way to experience your products or brand. However, there are strategies that are undeniably proven to work. I’ll break down some of the strategies that we have been a part of over the past few years and share some of our amazing experiences.

Create a remarkable experiential event

Forbes magazine states that “Millennials have turned the traditional marketing strategy on its head, requiring an entirely new approach.“

Typically when a company contacts us it’s because they need something crazy built. And almost always on a very short deadline, so it’s easily understandable as to how this can be extremely stressful for any coordinator. The coordinator has been tasked with creating something that hasn’t been done before if this isn’t the case and your idea isn’t unique then you run the risk of the consumers blowing you off… Currently, for most companies, the majority of the audience falls into the Millenials composed of early 80’s to early 21st century. I barely made it into this generation by one year experiencing life before home computers, cell phones, and all this new-fangled technology, I was born on the precipice of the modern technology boom. What I do remember is that advertising to me came in two forms tv ads and print, and there was so little of it in today’s comparison that I actually welcomed it and I was easily persuaded. Today you have to gain my trust before I buy your product.

A short list of what makes the best brand activation.

Visuals– our area of expertise. You can never go wrong with going big, and by big I mean Huge, the human brain is captivated by things outside its imagination. When you can exceed peoples expectations they are captivated by it.

create an art fabrication display that makes people want to take a photo in front of it for the sole purpose of posting it on social media. It’s a simple way to earn credibility through association.

Incorporating your brand name with huge foam letters is an easy way to make a photo opportunity.

Creating a large statue of either a character or a huge 3d foam prop of your product makes for really memorable branding.

Engagement– how will you connect with the consumer- emotionally, psychologically (psychographics), on a cultural level, with a political stance or will you do it through showing you care.

Interacting with the consumer in a way that is inviting and not pushy always wins.

give away free stuff, when you give a person something for free they tend to feel a sense of obligation to at least hear what you have to say.

Location-in order to connect with a massive amount of people face to face you need to take part in the culture but look cool while doing it, for instance, tech companies connect with people at the SXSW festival in Austin, Coachella or at the CES convention in Las Vegas.

Pick a place that’s “cool” you want your brand to be associated with the culture of your consumer so go party with them, see in engagement on the how…

Choose a place that will give you the most foot traffic, specifically in areas where people tend to congregate i.e. (food courts, near food truck areas) if you’re at a convention the inside rows are always the best.

Timing– this is critical, a new product launch done at the wrong time is a sure fire way to bomb. Or a

This will require in-depth market research

Be prepared for the fast pace of events, musical festivals can sometimes bring consumers in waves and you never want to be understaffed with your brand ambassadors so your not losing engagements also having a bunch of ambassadors can draw a crowd because people are naturally drawn to an area where people are all crowding around.

Viral- In order to achieve this level of mass audience and experience marketing euphoria you have to do something freaking ridiculous or create something so visually jaw-dropping that everyone will wanna share it because it’s an easy win in they’re social circle.